Home Case Index All Cases Indian Laws Indian Laws + SC Indian Laws - 2006 (10) TMI SC This
Forgot password New User/ Regiser ⇒ Register to get Live Demo
2006 (10) TMI 469 - SUPREME COURTSuit Filed for a declaration that the orders passed by the Board are null and void and for recovery of possession of the suit property - Application u/s 25 of the Wakf Act, 1954 ("the 1954 Act") for registering the Dargah as a Wakf - barred by limitation - private parties application for recall of the order was rejected by the Madhya Pradesh Wakf Board ("the Board") - power of Tribunal to determine disputes regarding wakfs - HELD THAT:- The property was dedicated to the Dargah, if any, a long time back. An application for registration of the said property as a Wakf property in terms of Section 25 of the 1954 Act, therefore, could have been filed only within the period specified thereunder, viz., nine months from the date of coming into force of the said Act. Registration of Wakfs whether created before or after the commencement of the said Act is governed by Section 25. A copy of the Wakf deed was also required to be enclosed with such an application. Sub- section (7) of Section 25 of the 1954 Act provides for making of an inquiry into the correctness or otherwise of the contents of the said application. Title to a property has a definite connotation. It is not the same as user. The Tribunal failed to deal with the question as to whether the Board had the requisite jurisdiction to entertain the application filed by Munna Bai being barred by limitation, insofar as whereas period of limitation provided for under sub-section (8) of Section 25 is merely three months, Munna Bai filed an application after 12 years after coming into force of the 1954 Act. We are not unmindful of the fact that the Board itself could have initiated proceedings in terms of Section 27 of the 1954 Act but then no suo motu proceeding was initiated by it. No notice in this behalf has been issued. If the proceeding was initiated by the Board for which it had no jurisdiction whatsoever, its order would be 'coram non judice'. Unfortunately, the attention of the Tribunal or the High Court was not drawn to this aspect of the matter. If the property in question was not a Wakf property and the order registering the property as a Wakf property was invalid in law, the matter might have ended there. But, the Tribunal has gone a step further and directed framing of scheme. The Tribunal had been constituted for the purposes mentioned in Section 83 of the 1995 Act. It is an adjudicatory body. Its decision is final and binding but then it could not usurp the jurisdiction of the Board. Our attention has not been drawn to any provision which empowers the Tribunal to frame a scheme. In absence of any power vested in the Tribunal, the Tribunal ought to have left the said function to the Board which is statutorily empowered therefor. Where a statute creates different authorities to exercise their respective functions thereunder, each of such authority must exercise the functions within the four corners of the statute. We, therefore, are of the opinion that the matter requires fresh consideration at the hands of the Tribunal. We direct accordingly. Orders of the Tribunal and the High Court are set aside. The appeals are disposed of with the aforementioned directions. The Tribunal is directed to consider the matter afresh as expeditiously as possible preferably within a period of three months from date.
|